With the looming threat of irreversible climate change becoming a major concern for countries worldwide, it’s no wonder that many of them are turning to clean and renewable energy sources to meet energy needs – a notion more practical than ever today, thanks to advancements in technology.
Now, Malaysia is jumping onto the bandwagon and is aiming to have all roofs in Peninsular Malaysia fitted with solar panels! Compared to the conventional process of generating electricity through the burning of fossil fuel, solar panels will be able to generate 1.4 times more electricity.
Source: ERS
Yeo Bee Yin, Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, said that Peninsular Malaysia has 4.12 million buildings with the potential to house solar panels on their rooftops. She added that a massive 34,194 megawatts (MW) of electricity can be generated at any one time if these buildings are fitted with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Currently, Malaysia produces an average of only 24,000 MW at any one time.
“If we equip our roofs with solar, we can potentially produce more than the total electricity generated in Malaysia,” Yeo said at the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) office here on 14 May.
Source: The Star
Out of the total electricity generated by Malaysia, only 2% of it comes from renewable energy sources. This means that most of the nation’s energy generation still comes from fossil fuel resources like oil, coal or natural gas, all of which are limited.
According to The Star, the Ministry has targeted commercial and industrial buildings to go solar and be the early adopters of the revised Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme as they aim to increase Malaysia’s renewable energy mix from 2% to 20% by 2030.
Lower tariffs, tax incentives, solar leasing programmes and reduced electricity bills will be offered under the NEM to those who choose solar energy. This will come through the one-on-one offset, where every 1kWh exported to the grid will be offset against 1kWh consumed from the grid.
Source: NST
For 2019, the NEM quota of 500 MW will be allocated, with 450 MW purposed for commercial and industrial buildings while the remaining 50 MW will go to residential buildings.
Yeo said that there has been a positive response to the revised NEM scheme as there was an increase in NEM take-up rate this year.
“As of May 2019, a total of 16.6 MW of NEM has been approved in the first four months of 2019, compared with approved capacity of 18.24 MW in 2018,” she said.
What do you think of this new plan to fit rooftops in Malaysia with solar panels? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: These 14yo M’sians Won an International Exhibition By Inventing a Solar Charging Station!
